Health officials seek to pinpoint crypto sources

A third cases of the waterborne parasitical infection known as crypto has been confirmed in Abilene, according to a public health official.

Wayne Rose, epidemiologist for the Abilene-Taylor County Public Health District, said the three cases are not related to each other, meaning they did not become infected at the same time, at the same place.

Rose is investigating the possibility that one person picked up the infection in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where more than 120 cases of the illness has been confirmed. One person was definitely not infected locally, Rose said, and there is a possibility that the third person was infected in the Abilene area.

Crypto, short for cryptosporidium, is an infection that causes diarrhea, nausea, fever and stomach cramps and vomiting.

The disease can be spread through contaminated water, including swimming pools. It can survive for long periods of time, and it is resistant to chlorine disinfection found in pools.

State health officials said the number of crypto cases is up dramatically statewide, mostly because of an outbreak in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The state health department does not record cases of individuals who have been infected out of state -- but only the county where they reported their illness, said Emily Palmer, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services.

"Tarrant County has had more than 60 lab-confirmed cases. That's a huge jump from last year when they had maybe five," she said. "It does happen that people get the infection out of state, but we only have numbers where people were diagnosed with the illness."

Most of the confirmed crypto cases in Tarrant County were linked to Burger's Lake in Fort Worth.

Dallas County has seen at least 60 cases, Palmer said, most of them stemming from public swimming pools or spray parks.

The two cases of crypto are Abilene's first since 2005, when the city had one case of the illness. There was one case in 2004, Rose said.

"That's it until now," he said. "It's rare for our area."

Although the crypto cases in Abilene don't appear to be the result of a dip in a local pool or lake, Palmer urged a sense of heightened awareness about the illness Tuesday.

"A lot of people think a clean, well-maintained swimming pool is usually fine. It's good to remind people that well-maintained pools that look like they have been updated can still be infected with crypto," she said.

"We certainly don't want to scare people away from pools, but people need to take precautions and check with their health care provider if they feel ill, especially if they have watery diarrhea."